Massive Protest At Badlapur Station Against Sexual Abuse Of 2 Nursery Girls, Cops Resort To Lathi-charge | Video

Dramatic visuals emerged from Maharashtra as thousands of protesters flocked to the local train station in Badlapur and blocked the movement of trains. The protests came in the backdrop of the sexual assault of two four-year-old girls by a school sweeper in the washroom of a well-known school in Badlapur.

As per the video shared by news agency ANI, the protestors were seen shouting “hai, hai” slogans against the police officials and demanded death penalty for the sweeper allegedly involved the assault case.

In response to the call for the shutdown of Badlapur city, the police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the protestors gathered at Badlapur railway station to protest against the alleged sexual assault with the two nursery girls. The Government Railway Police (GRP) detained more than 50 people from Badlapur Railway Station.

Sweeper Held For Sexually Abusing 4-year-old Girls

The accused, identified as Akshay Shinde, was arrested after the parents insisted on filing a formal complaint despite initial attempts by the police to play down the issue by delaying the filing of the FIR for over 12 hours. The accused worked as a cleaner in the school contracted through a third-party company.

Taking action against the delayed police action, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered the Thane Police Commissioner to immediately suspend the senior police inspector, assistant sub-inspector and head constable of Badlapur police station.

Maharashtra Govt Forms SIT

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday ordered the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged sexual abuse of two girl students of a school in Badlapur in Thane district which triggered a massive protest, leading to the halting of local train services.

The SIT will be headed by Inspector General of Police-rank officer Aarti Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who heads the Home Department, said.

Opposition Slams Police Action

Responding to the police action on protestors, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi took to X and wrote, “Lathi charged for asking for justice. Lathi charged for saying enough is enough. Lathi charged for asking our daughters to be safe. Not the police force I have known, I have trusted, I have believed in. Has to come from the government in charge.”

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said the incident in Badlapur is “bigger” than the rape-murder case that occurred in Kolkata as the girls are just four years old.

“Atrocities are committed on a three-and-half-year-old girl, a four-year-old girl, and at the police station, they (parents) are made to wait for 11 hours when they seek to file a complaint… Is there any sensitivity left? I spoke to the police commissioner and told him that the woman police officer responsible for this delay must be suspended immediately,” Wadettiwar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.